I have been on this board exactly 1 week. I have been striper fishing from boats for about 10 years or so (almost exclusively with either live or fresh natural baits) and each year I learn more and I am to the point where I expect to catch fish every time I go out, but I had never surf fished. Of course, with the weather we've been having, boat fishing was pretty much out of the question. I knew the fall run was starting and I was JONESIN' to fish.I logged on to the net, did a google search and ended up here. I read and read thread after thread, soaking up all the info. I hit the road in the Silverado to scout some spots. I owned not one piece of surf gear. I stumbled across an insane blitz at the ditch while scouting spots, but was there with no gear. I'm on a tight budget right now so I headed to WallyWorld to grab some bargain basement waders, headlight, surf bag, etc. (I DID go to CMS to pick up some plugs and stuff too. Don't tell the Missus!) I loaded the gear in the Silverado and headed off to do more scouting. Met Link Sr and Hunan along the way. I found a space at the ditch to practice(when it was shoulder-to-shoulder) and was carefull to observe proper etiquette and not to mug anyone, jump in anyone's boots, or foul anyone up. I wanted to find my own spot, so I thought of a spot that might be good, and studied nautical charts, topo maps, and ariel photos. Sunday night, I decided to try slingin' snakes at the ditch and caught my first 2 surfcast fish. Little 18" schoolie on the east end, and a 6 or 7 lb blue at the RR bridge. Nothing to write home about but gave me great satisfaction. (GAWD, I Love them snakes!) I intend to try the other spot I found tomorrow. There were 4 young men fishing near there. I asked them if they thought if it would be a good spot, and they said it undoubtedly would but it's too long of a walk. That rang a bell about something I read here. All of you great guys and gals have been an invaluable resource for someone like myself trying to learn a new skill/sport. Thank you all and keep the info coming!
Steve G.
